Clean Your CD-RW

This page and the information on it has been kindly given to us and reproduced thanks to the Webmaster at the Yamaha CDRW Info Site

!!! WARNING !!!
This is done at your own risk
We will not be held responsible if you damage
your CD Recorder by following these steps
Do not apply power to the
CD Recorder with the top casing off in case
of electric shock or the possibility of
short circuiting the CD Recorders electronics
Do not touch any electrical components
inside with your fingers, static may
damage the CD Recorder (earth yourself to a Radiator
by touching it every five minutes or wear an earth strap to
dissipate any static electric from your body ).
This is for the brave hearted....
You have been WARNED
!!! WARNING !!!

Read the info here a few times before you attempt this or print it out.

OK, you have had your CD Recorder for over a year now, so this means that the 1 year Warranty has expired, run out etc...

How do you keep it in working order at a low cost ? Well, one way is to stop dust entering the CD Recorder. Use the CD Recorder in a dust free as possible room, I don't mean house it in a Lab like Intel uses to make the PII / PIII CPU's, that would be silly. Most PC's take in air via the front of the case due to the fan(s) inside the PC which is then blown out the back. If you look closely you will see small dust particles around the PC's drive bays at the front, as well as around the CD Recorder. Treat the CD Recorder with some respect as they cost money to replace, don't put drinks on the tray, never leave the tray open for long periods of time, saves the tray from being broken if knocked or walked into. Keep all your CD's in a clean area, do not put mugs of coffee on them, and then place it into the CD Recorder with liquid or sticky sweets stuck to them.

The info that follows can be used for all of the Yamaha CD Recorders, some will have more screws to remove than others, this depends on the CD Recorder that you have, so please look before you take it apart.

Opening the CD Recorder

You will need a Phillips screw driver, and a can of compressed air, and some petroleum based grease (Vaseline jelly works well here), and a paperclip that has been stretched out, one or two cotton buds.

OK, this is were we get serious, time to open that £150.00 - £400.00 CD Recorder and clean the dust out and check that the rails that the lens carrier ( laser ) runs along are greased.

Handle the CD Recorder with care....

Remove any CD that you may have in the CD Recorder and close the tray.
Shut down the PC.
Remove the CD Recorder from your PC, take note of the location of all leads at the same time.

Place the CD Recorder upside down onto a clean work area free from ash trays and dust, this will allow you access to any screws that may need to be undone / removed.

The picture above shows the location of the screws for the CRW4416 & CRW6416 recorders that need to be removed. Once you have done this, turn the recorder over.

Now locate the clips as shown below.
Some CD Recorders may not have these clips, but most do, as well as your standard CD ROM Player.

Once you have followed the instructions above, take a look at the next picture.

Your CD Recorder should now look like this next picture, don't do anything else until you have read what to do next.

Please take note of the following pictures........ Warning coming up !

So, please take note of these two pictures and the WARNINGS......

Click Here to Continue (Part 2)